We, the angels and demons!

Evil (Miniseries; 2016-22)

S1-S3, 36 episodes.

Is evil something extrinsic, or is it something within ourselves? Is the world comprised of two equally opposing powers trying to dominate the other? Is there a rational explanation for all the bizarre things that happen around us? Can science adequately explain them?

A long time ago, actually, it all depended on where one hailed from. It was utterly acceptable to blame one's socially unacceptable acts on the forces of evil and get away scot-free. In ancient times, some civilisations preached we were responsible for our actions and needed to be repaid in this birth or next. The source of evil is the suppressed desires of the reptilian brain, whose ill thoughts are cancelled off by the conscious mind.

Almost apologetically, some Middle East religions blame all misdeeds on rogue angels who strayed God's path. These deviants try to recruit mortals to their camp to give God and his teaching a run for his money.

In the modern world, increasingly, science comes up with rational explanations for events that happen around us.

The myths surrounding the pale-looking Count Dracula and his nocturnal activities can be understood when we realise that the Count suffers from congenital erythropoietic porphyria. Sufferers are pale with anaemia and stay indoors due to photosensitivity. They may have an aversion to garlic, or it could be folklore. The fear of the Cross could be reactionary if the whole mob ran towards them, chanting prayer hymns. Pellagra and rabies have been suggested as possible reasons for Count Dracula's bizarre behaviour, appearance and dentition.

Fast forward to the ICT age, and we have another demon to struggle with. The dopamine-inducing ding of a 'like' on social media has turned us into narcissistic Pavlov's dogs, gratified with peer validation, to be a herd member and to terrorise behind the cloak of anonymity. The algorithmic targeting of potential customers to clickbait is doing much damage to our civilisation. These acts are man-made with their rapacious desire to be blessed with insurmountable wealth. Allegiance to Money God seems more important than being kind to fellow kind.

The race to excel, to attain the impossible, perfection has turned into self-centred devils, giving two-hoots to fellow travellers of life.

Electromagnetic waves, radio signals, modern plumbing issues, seismic activities, psychological conditions and simple foolhardy have all been blamed as the work of God's antithesis, Satan. More often than not, there is a plausible rational explanation for everything. It is a work in progress for those for that we cannot give an acceptable reason. In the interim, invoking the name of God and Satan gives a temporary reprieve to the faint-hearted.

Not to forget the dark web, where one can find all the things that are banned by society if the buyer knows what to ask, including magic mushrooms, cocaine and sexual services of the kinky kind.

This miniseries, which has completed 36 episodes in 3 seasons, talk precisely about this. Three modern-day ghostbusters, a pastor in the making (who gets ordained later in the series), a psychiatrist and a techie, are summoned by a Roman Catholic Church to assess demonic possessions and determine whether there was a rational explanation for them. Invariably, there seems to be a logical explanation for all the mayhem. If previously, in the pre-internet era, when hysteria and other psychological affection were blamed for 'demonic' possessions, now, even the Church thinks there could be a rational explanation for all the bizarre occurrences. Increasingly, social media is enslaving people to be irrational, become narcissistic, pretend, be insecure and all the negative things that a religious person would label as the work of the devil. I guess Lord Highness of the Dark need not ascend to Earth to carry out his nefarious activities. Human beings are pretty capable of self-destroying themselves.

Along the way, in the series, we encounter Satan, making his presence and luring the investigators and their loved ones to the dark side. Much self-restraint and willpower are crucial to combat these negativities.

With or without angels and demons, we are responsible for our actions. We do the crime and the time in this life or the next. No 'Get Out of Jail Free cards' exist to absolve one from his crimes. We use our God-given faculties (angels) to fight our inner demons to do the right thing. We are the Atma that forms part of the Paramathma.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Disposable!

Pulsagari (North Korean; 1985)
Director: Shin Sang-ok

Although we have hardly heard of North Korea (NK)'s indulgement in the celluloid industry, The Supreme Leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-Un and Kim Jong-Il before him, are movie buffs. The elder was so desperate to bring his country's movies to the international arena (and to make propaganda films) that Jong-Il kidnapped South Korea's famous film icons of the 60s, Shin Sang-ok and his ex-wife Choi Eun-hee for this purpose.

In 1979, Choi went missing in Hong Kong. Shin was the prime suspect in her disappearance. In trying to investigate her vanishing, he was kidnapped by Kim's men and whisked off to NK. Here, Shin found Choi safe and sound. After series of torture and rehabilitation exercise, Shin decided that the best way to escape was to play ball. Both Choi and Shin soon became a feature in NK high society. He was coaxed to make about 7 movies, of which Pulsagari is one. A year later, in Vienna, both of them sought asylum. Pulsagari is basically a rip-off of Godzilla. Even though the backstory behind this sci-fi sounds more interesting than the flick, the storyline does carry some sobering thoughts.
It tells of an evil emperor who tortures his subjects. The already resources-depleted mountain dwelling community is harassed for taxes. When money became scarce, the King's generals demand their metal utensils, hoe, rakes, pots, pans and knife to be smelt to be made weapons. The villagers resisted. The head was imprisoned and tortured. Before dying, the leader moulded a figurine of a fabled monster named Pulsagari and breathed life into it.

Pulsagari was discovered by the villagers, and soon they realised that the cute little monster was very much alive and thrived on iron. It was just handy as it fast gobbled up all the enemies' arsenal. Pulsagari was a saviour who saved the villagers from the tyranny of the iron-fisted rulers. It became bigger with more iron-feed. When the war was over, and the foes were defeated, the villagers had a bigger problem in their hand. Pulsagari's ferocious appetite could not keep up with the availability of iron in the village. Ironically, the saviour became the demander. The only way to reach sanity was to just kill off Pulsagari!

The hidden message here is that in life everybody has a shelf-life. No one is indispensable. They are sent to be Earth to perform a specific pre-ordained mission. What that is, is anybody's guess. After that is done, we have to just fade away into the sunset rather than to be a burden to the soil that supports us. Funny, Kim did not see the moral staring in the face of its viewers. I guess the joke must be on him.

Hear a podcast of the experience of the South Koreans on the other side of the 38th parallel... On 'This American Life'.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/556/same-bed-different-dreams/act-one


https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson

All born evil?

I heard of a theory put forward by a psychologist recently that we are all born evil! Deep inside we are born, not as clean slate but as a chalice of evil overflowing through our every orifices. Of course these helplessly cute tots are not able to perform any of their evil deeds because of the sheer size and incoordination. The psychologist, however, propose that upbringing is the one that modifies these literally 'inner demons' to be doing things acceptable in the society. The caregivers guide us through our daily guidances to mould us to be useful members of the society, to conform to what is accepted as norm. The social etiquette and logical reciprocal course of reaction to any action is engrained into us through repetitive conditioning. This Pavlovian reaction helps to maintain sanity and ensures that even the weak and downtrodden get their place in the sun.
Come a moment of desperation, a mob, famine or pain, these inner demons will come to fore. They will be exposed in full glory to ensure that their hosts come out tops. It is called the survival of the fittest. So niceties are only preserved for peace time. Your forever smiling pleasant neighbour may just turn against you when the situation is ripe and the instigating environment warrants it to. Beware!